Do you want to make sure you have the basics of Project Management sorted – the terminology, stages, structures and processes? You could go on a (very) expensive course, or you could access the materials from leading universities for free through the use of Open Educational Resources. I’ll be looking at some of the resources available and outlining what they cover and what benefits they could bring to your project management.

I am a big fan of the UK’s Open University. I have studied with them for years, and the quality of the materials they produce has always impressed me. They have a new(ish) iniitiative called OpenLearn, where they make some of their course material available as OERs for all to use. Anyone can register with OpenLearn and you can then use the VLE to track your progress and record your learning. Note that there is no tutor involvement with OpenLearn – it is all self-directed learning. If you want to sit an exam and get the support of a tutor and a formal qualification, you will need to sign up with the Open University itself, and hand over some cash.

Preparing a project

The first course I am going to look at is Preparing a Project (B713_1). It is at Masters level, but does not assume any particular qualification. The course outline suggests it takes approximately 8 hours to complete.

It covers the following topics:

What is a project?

Why projects fail – the dimensions of failure

Where do projects come from

The idea

Mind mapping

Task breakdown chart

Project inputs and outputs

Setting aims and objectives

The stakeholders and their interests

Will it work?

Consider the purpose

Feasibility studies

Risk and contingency planning

Risk assessment and impact analysis

A basis for action and the project brief

This unit provides the context for setting up a project. The key points here are:

Section 5 – Make sure you know what you are trying to achieve and will be able to tell when you have achieved it

Section 6 – Think up front about who needs to be involved in your project and who you need to communicate with about it.

Section 7 – Risk analysis. It provides a template for a risk register, and discusses the need for contingency

Section 8 – A checklist of the headings that should be included in your Project brief, or Project Initiation Document.

I particularly like the Project Brief Checklist. It can be quite difficult to find a template or outline for the main Project Management documents, and I think that the headings given here are a great starting point for someone who is trying to put together a Project brief, or who is wrestling with how to get started with managing a project.

Here’s the list:

Project title

Name of sponsor and main contact for project approval

Locations – address of sponsor, project location, contact address

Name of person managing the project and possibly their organisation if different from that of the project sponsor

Date of agreement of project brief

Date of project start and finish

Background to the project and purpose with goals outlined

Key objectives with quality and success criteria

Details of how achievement of these will bring benefits to the business or sponsoring organisation

Scope of the project and any specific boundaries

Constraints

Assumptions

Timescale of the project

Deliverables and target dates (milestones)

Estimated costs

Resourcing arrangements

Reporting and monitoring arrangements

Decision-making arrangements – level of authority and accountability held by manager of project and arrangments for any necessary renegotation

Communications arrangements

Signature of sponsor with date, title and authority

This looks like a really solid template for a Project Brief. Let me know if you think it is lacking anything.

One Comment on “Project briefing guidelines from OpenLearn”

[...] 2009 in Project management tips This post from Project Management Tips ties in well with my earlier post about starting a project, and the need for a Project Brief. “Begin with the End in Mind means to [...]